§ Mr. DjanoglyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the number of dentists providing NHS treatment in Huntingdon; and if he will make a statement. [17480]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 26 November 2001]: A monthly assessment of the number of national health service dentists in the Huntingdon area is made by Cambridgeshire health authority. This information is made available to members of the public on the NHS Direct website.
In the Huntingdonshire Primary Care Trust area there are 56 general dental practitioners providing NHS treatment. Sixteen of these are currently accepting new NHS dental patients.
In addition, a daily dental service is provided for people in the Huntingdon area who need urgent treatment and are not registered with a dentist.
§ Mr. TylerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the adult population in(a) England, (b) Cornwall and (c) the United Kingdom were registered with NHS dentists in (i) 1997–98, (ii) 1998–99, (iii) 1999–2000 and (iv) 2000–01. [19947]
§ Ms BlearsThe percentage of adults registered with a general dental service (GDS) dentist per head of population is shown in the table for England, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly health authority and the United Kingdom for 30 September in each of the years 1997–98 to 2000–01.
The registration rates for September 1997 are not comparable with the later figures as they reflect a 24 month registration period, the later figures reflect a 15 month registration period.
The registration rates for 1999–2000 and 2000–01 are affected by the number of patients now seen in the Cornwall personal dental services (PDS) schemes. During 2000–01 some 13,000 individual adult patients were seen via these PDS schemes, which corresponds to about 3 per cent. of the local population.
126W
General dental service: Percentage of adult registrations1 per population2 1997–98 to 2000–01 September each year England Cornwall and the Isles of Stilly HA United Kingdom 1997–983 351 348 351 1998–99 44 39 44
General dental service: Percentage of adult registrations1 per population2, 1997–98 to 2000–01 September each year England Cornwall and the Isles of Stilly HA United Kingdom 1999–2000 43 37 44 2000–01 43 37 44 1. Based on the number of adult registrations at 30 September for each financial year.
2. ONS mid year adult population estimates used to calculate percentage of adult patients registered.
3. Registration rates reflect a 24 month registration period rather than 15 months which is the basis of the later figures.